Telling Time to Five Minutes Worksheets

Teach counting by fives around the dial first: put a finger on the 12 and say five, ten, fifteen, all the way around. Then give the page for ten to fifteen minutes. Students count the minute hand's position, check the hour hand, and write the time. Check using the answer key and re-count any wrong answer with a finger on the dial, rather than just erasing it.

The minute hand now points to any of twelve numbers, each worth five minutes, so the multiplication-by-five pattern becomes useful. The clocks show all sixty ticks with the five-minute marks drawn heavier, which supports counting. Common errors are writing 6:5 for 6:05 and choosing the wrong hour when the time is past 30 minutes. This follows quarter hours and prepares for telling time to the exact minute and for elapsed time.

The Times control is on Five minutes here. If a child struggles, switch back to Quarter hours for a few sessions. Problems per page gives 6, 12 and 20: 12 is standard, 20 is a fluency check for confident readers. Ask the child to write the minutes first and the hour second if they keep mixing up which hand is which.

Will times like 6:05 show up on the page?

Yes, and they are useful. The zero before the 5 is a common stumbling block. The answer key writes it as 6:05, so you can point to it when a child writes 6:5.

How do kids read the minutes from the clock?

Count by fives from the 12 to where the minute hand points. The heavier tick marks fall on each number, so the count matches the ticks. Practice skip counting by fives first and it becomes quick.

What grade is this level meant for?

Second grade in most sequences. A strong first grader may manage, and third graders can use it as review. Move down to the quarter hour page if the minute hand reading is still slow.